Rational drug design Flashcards
what is lead optimisation
synthetic modification of a biologically active compound
- to fulfil all pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic, toxicological and formulator requirements for clinical usefulness
what is pharmacodynamics
study of the biochemical and physiological effects of the drugs and the mechanisms of drug action and the relationship between drug concentration and effect
what does improved pharmacodynamic activity lead to
- greater potency
- greater selectivity
what is pharmacokinetics
study of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of bioactive compounds in a higher oraganism
what does improved pharmacokinetic activity lead to
- better bioavailability and absorption
- more advantageous distribution
- better metabolic profile and longer duration of action
- different excretion profile
what does improved toxicological profile lead to
toxicity is sometimes associated with particular structural moieties
what other reasons is lead optimisation carried out
- formulation
- chemical stability
- economic factors
- ease of synthesis
- ecological factors
- intellectual property and patent protection
what did the rational drug design for Levodopa and parkinsonism show
- observed that dopamine levels in patients were lower than in healthy people
- L dopa crosses BBB by active transport and is decarboxylated to dopamine
what can be used in molecular modelling to identify the pharmacore
- x ray crystallography- from bond distances can identify nature of the bonding interaction
- structural comparison of active compounds
- measuring possible conformations of many ligands
- predict most likely pharmacophoric descriptors
what can be used in molecular modelling to identify the active conformation
- x ray crystallography
- if have a crystal structure of target protein with ligand attached
- can establish the coordinates for the ligand and establish active conformation
- can establish coordinates for the target and model the binding site
what is computational drug discovery
quantum mechanics uses quantum physics to calculate properties of molecules by considering the interactions between electrons and nuclei of the molecule
what is involved in molecular modelling in computational drug discovery
- molecular orbital energies and coefficients
- heat of formation for specific conformations
- partial atomic charges
- electrostatic potentials
- bond dissociation energies
what is involved in the can model of molecular modelling
- bond lengths
- bond angles
- torsion angles
- process of iteration finds most stable structure
- 3d structures of drugs and targets
- interactions between drugs and targets
- bonding interactions
- shape, size and fit
what can be used to find lead activity molecules in molecular modelling
- can construct virtual libraries of molecules
- screen each molecule for best fit against defined criteria
- docking of ligand to target is simulated
what does a pharmacore define
- bonding interactions
- bond distances
- conformation and steric parameters
what is the de novo design in molecular modelling
- design molecules to fit target molecule
- molecules constructed from fragments that are typically found in existing drugs
- new ligands should be capable of being synthesised
- new molecular libraries can be designed on the basis of info obtained from de novo analysis
- generate new lead activity molecules
what are isosteres
molecules or ions of similar size containing the same number of atoms and valence electrons
what is isosterism
concept of making changes to molecules on the basis of isosteric substitutions
what are isosteric substitutions organised into
class I, II, III, IV, and V
give an example of what can be used as an oral hypoglycaemic agent alternative to tolbutamide
chlorpropamide has a longer duration of activity
- bd dosing instead of tds
give an example of class I isosteric substitutions
halogens, OH, NH2, CH3
what can isosteric replacements change
can change the nature of activity
- from agonist to antagonist
what are class II isosteric substitutions
O, S, Se, NH, CH2
what are class III isosteric substitutions
N–, CH–, P–, As–